An Authentication algorithm for Mitigating DoS attacks in Wireless Body Sensor Networks

Abstract

Wireless Body Sensor Networks (WBSNs) are one of the fastest-growing technologies for sensing and performing various tasks. The information transmitted in the WBSNs is vulnerable to cyber-attacks, therefore security is very important. Denial of Service (DoS) attacks are considered one of the major threats against WBSNs security. In DoS attacks, an adversary targets to degrade and shut down the efficient use of the network and disrupt the services in the network, rendering them inaccessible to the intended users. Despite victims having sensitive information in WBSNs, like their medical history, unauthorized users may gain access to that information, causing far more damage than the disease itself; the patient may lose his or her life. This research study proposes a user-based authentication and DoS mitigation algorithm. A five-phase user-based authentication and DoS mitigation algorithm for WBSNs is designed by integrating Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and Rivest Cipher 4 (RC4) to ensure a strong authentication process that will only allow authorized users to access nodes in WBSNs. MATLAB simulator was used to simulate and evaluate a user-based authentication and DoS mitigation algorithm, comparing it with other traditional authentication algorithms. The user-based authentication and DoS mitigation algorithm reduced both the numbers of packets lost and the encryption/decryption time. The obtained results produced 13% less throughput gateway, and improved network throughput capacity by 5%. The results saw reduced packet loss by 3% where traffic load was 50 seconds. Encryption/decryption time improved by 80% when data encrypted/decrypted was 120ns to 160ns. This compares favorably with the biometric authentication algorithm and cryptographic techniques scheme. Therefore, the proposed user-based authentication and DoS mitigation algorithm outperformed these traditional authentication algorithms in network throughput, minimizing the amount of packet loss and encryption/decryption time.